Hi. I'm a painter, a writer and a mother of three teenage sons, one with a severe disability. This is a journal: riotously disorganized, full of art, food, children and everyday domestic events. Unless you are a friend or family member you may not be interested, but you are welcome to look. Artists who are parents may find some
common ground here, as well as parents of children with special needs. For art only, see my site: nancybeamiller.blogspot.com

Monday, November 26

So, Paul and I were invited to an artist friend's party in the city last weekend. My first thought was no, can't do that, Henry will be home. Second thought, might be nice to have a destination for our nightly drives with Henry. We don't have to STAY! Hen actually really enjoys walking around in cities looking at different things, smelling new smells etc. So, even if we lasted only two minutes in Patrick's apartment we could still go for a night walk in Queen Village. I checked in with my friend Pat, who confirmed no dogs would be present (Henry has a morbid and overwhelming fear of dogs, yes Jane, even your very sweet old Labrador who wouldn't hurt a fly) and that sure, Henry would be welcome. Well, after a certain amount of trepidation and waffling we decided to go for it. And Henry had a great time! So did Paul and I, more unusually. Henry was pleasantly delighted with the snacks and the music. He'd sit on the various sofas in turn, grinning and stimming and rocking lightly in time to the music. Then he'd get up and amble about quietly looking at things, lights, even sometimes smiling gently into people's faces and standing near them, then ambling off again. He was in party mode! He did quietly polish off a medium sized bowl of potato chips (next time we'll bring a bag of chips with us!) but otherwise was well behaved. That meant Paul and I could relax (to a greater than usual extent) and enjoy ourselves too.

The really nice thing was how cool everyone was. I'd occasionally make a quick Henry explanation to someone I didn't know and people were nice but, blessedly, not overly interested! It was great to not have to trot out the whole Story of Henry six million times, just say a few words and hear in return "Oh yeah, he has autism? Okay, cool." and that was that. I was reminded of how truly accepting of differences many artists are. A relief. Nobody seemed phased or disconcerted in the least.Anyway, I guess this seems like a long post about not very much, but it was a first, a leap, taking our 18 year old to a non-family unfamiliar-surroundings grown-up party with us. Only after two hours had passed did we look at our watches and think about moving on, simply because we were tired from a long week on Henry duty. But now I'm thinking, maybe we can try this more. Have six foot five inch boy with autism home on holiday break, will party! Some times, anyway. (Thanks again Patrick King!)

Thursday, November 22

Last night the house smelled divine as Paul and I took turns at the oven, preparing special treats for today's holiday. I was struck by the glorious colors on the kitchen counter as I put together a butternut squash and apple casserole that is in great demand at family gatherings. I got the recipe years ago from one of my sister-in-laws, and I was preparing it to bring to my other sister-in-law's kitchen today. Thoughts of family, the heady fragrance of cinnamon, nutmeg and mace intermingling, and the bright colors of the ingredients sent me into a happy little cooking trance.

May everyone everywhere have a peaceful and happy day today, filled with blessings and gratitude. ☆¸.••*¨*•♫♪♡♥♡♪♫•*¨*•.¸☆

Monday, November 19

Henry came home on Saturday for eight days of Thanksgiving vacation. I was a little nervous about how he would react to our new young cat, Sunny. But so far so good! There seems to be mutual acceptance. Sunny never leaps up on Henry the way he will with most everyone else, perhaps realizing this would not be a good idea. Henry seems to keeps an eye out for Sunny, and so far anyway has not inadvertently tromped on or sat down on Sunny's sleeping form.

This was the scene at breakfast. When I got closer I realized that the loud rumbling sound was Sunny purring away, perhaps tuning into the "happy eating" vibes that Henry was sending out.

Sunday, November 11

I can't believe I have a cat who plays fetch. My two previous cats, dignified ladies, would never have dreamed of participating in such a dog-like activity! However, five-month-old orange tiger tomcat Sunny not only plays fetch with great gusto, he was the one who taught US to play! Because, duh, we had no idea that cats played fetch.

Here I come. Only throwing it into the next room was pretty lame.

It took us a while for us humans to cotton on. The cat would be bringing us little things and dropping them at our feet (okay, NEAR our feet. he is not actually a dog, after all!) Slowly, we grasped the rudiments of his master plan. You could just see him thinking "Sheesh, took long enough!" the first time I made the connection.

C'mom c'mon already yet! Game ON!

This can go on indefinitely. I have to say, it's the one cat playing game I actually like participating in for extended periods of time. I'm still kind of amazed by how different Sunny is from our previous cats. It's sort of like having a catdog!

November

by Elsa Beskow

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The photographs on this site were taken with either a Canon EOS T3i, a Nikon D-70, an iPhone, or a Canon Powershot SD1000. For photo reproduction/purchase inquiries please contact me at nb (at) genrecookshop (dot) com